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ORR Safety Chat: Work Travel (Video)

When you clock out for the day, it's often difficult to maintain that level of safety awareness you have while at work. You don't have hazard communication signs around every corner, there aren't many lines on the ground showing you where it's safe to walk, and you're not surrounded by like-minded safety folk. But, with the right mindset, safety is something that can carry over to all aspects of your life. Watch the video below as Phil sits down at the airport and discusses traveling with a safety-conscious and alert mindset.

Full Transcript

"Hey there. This is Phil with ORR coming at you with another safety chat. I'm traveling for work today and it kind of got me thinking about how workplace safety doesn't just end at the office doorstep. You know I'm out and about representing ORR. I'm here on behalf of ORR and that means that it's my responsibility to be safe wherever I'm at. So along those lines, I have a safety tip for you today. A travel safety tip and, yes, it has to do with cars. I don't know why all my safety chats are car related. I'm not even a car guy. It's not my thing but here we are.

Safety Awareness While Traveling

So, here's the tip: You're out traveling and you hail a cab, make sure you're getting into a licensed cab. Make sure you're paying attention to the medallions and make sure you're looking that they have a meter, that they have some sort of registration, some sort of paperwork in the car. There's a lot of unlicensed illegal cabs operating, especially in major metropolitan areas. It's very easy when you're not paying attention and you're on your phone, you're doing whatever, you just hop right in that car. All of a sudden you're not where you thought you would be.

I have a confession to make. On three different business trips I have found myself in an unlicensed cab. I was looking at my phone, checking work emails or whatever. Buckle in, car pulls away and all of a sudden I look around and I'm going, "Uh oh". Lucky for me, they were just regular working guys that were just trying to feed their family. I'm a former cop so I have no excuse if I get myself kidnapped. Luckily it didn't go that route, which is good.

Safety in the Workplace and Beyond

You can't rely on being the lucky one. There's a lot of cases of unlicensed cab drivers using that as a pretext to rob people or worse. You've got to pay attention, you've got to develop that situational awareness. In training, that situational awareness equips you elsewhere on the job. If you're paying attention and you're engaged, out in travel that trains you to be engaged when you're back in your factories and your places of business.

That's my tip for you today. I appreciate you joining me. Make sure you subscribe to the Safety blog so that you can get more regular updates on work place safety. I'll see you next time on another safety chat. Make it a safe day."